Perry Keyes - Johnny Ray's Downtown

Former front-man of short lived early 90’s Sydney act the Stolen Holdens, Perry Keyes came back on the radar in 2005 with a couple of incredibly acclaimed albums. That year's album ‘Meter’ was quoted as one of the best Australian debut’s ever, whilst 2007’s ‘The Last Ghost Train Home’ was named ABC National’s Album of the Year. And now, he’s released 2010’s ‘Johnny Ray’s Downtown.’

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At 42, and with his 2007 ABC Album of the Year award probably sitting somewhere in the cab he drives for a day job, Perry Keyes has become somewhat of a symbol for the Australian Music Industry. It’s an era where you can write a half-arsed 80’s throwback synth line, moan the same vocal over the top of it for five minutes and win yourself a feature album on Triple J. Meanwhile, Perry Keyes is still almost completely unknown. It’s just another story amongst so many stories from today’s music industry that sets your mouth agape, and it’s a story that has set Sydney’s vibrant community radio world into a frenzy. With ‘Johnny Ray’s Downtown’ spending time as a feature album on both 2ser and FBi, Perry Keyes has won himself a rapidly growing following…one that is entirely justified by only a few listens of said album.

Keyes’ lyrical stylings are one of the brightest highlights of ‘Johnny Ray’s Downtown,’ with stories of Sydney painting a diverse portrait from some of the seediest to some of the most innocent aspects of the city’s culture. Each track is reminiscent of some of Paul Kelly and Tim Freedman’s finest moments, with a dosage of Tom Waits in some of its lowlier scenes. Lines like ‘Orchy bottles lay like blue bells/on the broken shore/where Bob O’Halloran burnt a cone last night/and someone’s Commodore’ from ‘1982’ illustrate the eloquent highs of Perry Keyes’ ability as a storyteller. With these vocals played above a traditional early 90’s combination of keys, drums, guitar and bass, ‘Johnny Ray’s Downtown’ plays like an accompaniment to Paul Kelly’s ‘Comedy,’ a firm dose of classic Australian music.

The album, at a massive 16 tracks, is an epic journey in itself. From the optimism of opener ‘Will You Shine?’ to the somber closing track ‘Boxing Day’ featuring Tim Freedman on pump organ, ‘Johnny Ray’s Downtown’ takes you through 75 minutes of some of the truest representations of 20th century Australiana that have ever been written to disk. It becomes a sprawling story, one filled completely with characters straight from Perry Keyes own life…and perhaps that’s where the sincerity and honesty come from. The stories are genuine and the earnest playing supports this, making it the closest thing to a documentary you’ll ever find in the CD section of your local record store.

I find it really difficult to adequately profess my love for this album. It’s a completely unpretentious record, with just as many lyrical highlights as there are musically. ‘Queen of Everyone’s Heart’ mingles a simple chord progression with lightly feathered keys to create an atmosphere of recollection, whilst lines like ‘I remember your Dad in his blue railway shirt/His arm with the snake tattoo/and your Mum on Botany road with her lips real big/and her face all black and blue’ build a depth of storytelling that are barely rivaled by any Australian release this year. It’s not a song that will ever do well on the radio, but it was never built as such…it takes an ongoing story with subtle touches, and builds to a stunning crescendo. Maybe the strength in a track like this, which certainly isn’t the only one of its quality on this record, lies in the fact that it never was and never will be a pop song. It won’t bring home the giant pay cheques, but it delivers something finer than anything a 2 minute radio-friendly chorus can.

Of course, this is a massively sized and varied album…so there are bound to be some points that don’t suit you. There are definitely some moments that at first listen feel like unnecessary filler, but it seemed to me that with time, they all come together to form important parts of a whole. It just takes a bit of patience…and there’s a lesson in itself. In fact, I think we could all learn something from Perry Keyes. 

‘Johnny Ray’s Downtown’ is a treasure of a rarity, delivering itself as a release that is almost certain to be entirely unique amongst the rest of 2010’s releases. It may have been released 17 years too late to be taken seriously by today’s music mainstream, but it’s a brilliant snapshot of that era, and is something that you, as an Australian, are indebted to listen to.